Awakening Love
by LivingRain
Summary: [SakuSasu]One Shot! When they were younger, a mistake was made. In a way, her tears hit him harder than any kunai ever could. But he decided to end her sorrow.


Disclaimer: I don't own this anime or it's characters.

Author's Notes:

Yay-ness!! This will be my first fan fic up in quite a while. Squee! 3 I came up with the idea for it one day in between classes when I was talking to myself. (Yes, I talk to myself…. I'm NOT CRAZY!!! –spaz spaz- )

Hopefully you guys like it. And by the way…

Sasuke and Sakura and all the characters are about age 7 or 8. It's before the massacre of the Uchiha clan.

That's just so you know. –dances- Now, I believe it's time to get this show on the road.

Sasuke: Hn, idiot.

Rain: TT Awe… shut up my muse!! –waves magical wand of doom bunnies- Begin!!!

**Awakening Love**

I hurt her.

"You're so mean Sasuke-kun!"

I didn't want to...

"I never want to see you again!"

Forgive me.

I never meant to see you cry.

* * *

In Konoha village, many great clans were well known and respected for their powers of influence. Some were just average in strength while others were generally powerful. My clan was not just some average one to pass by. We had grown smaller, but not weak. Those who bore the Uchiha fan did not take the symbol lightly. Unlike the police force, if a true Uchiha bears the fan, it was best not to cross him.

Of all the elements, fire is the one that only can bring destruction upon ones enemies…

"Show us again, Sasuke-kun!"

"Yeah! It's amazing!"

"It's so cool!"  
"Can we see the flame again, Sasuke-kun?"

I looked at the other children with indifference. They had been following me all throughout recess trying to coax me into using my jutsu again. I was only using it this one time just to show how strong I was becoming, to show the class that I was the one who would one day be a force to reckon with. However, this bunch of _two-year-olds_ were only interested on the fact that I had burnt Naruto to a crisp. I bet brother never had to go through this trouble…

Brother gained true respect.

"Sasuke!" A loud voice erupted in the middle of them all. I looked over and glared in the direction of the annoyance. The yellow-haired boy stood on the bench, trying to look taller than me. Some cinder marks still remained on his clothes from me attack. "I won't let you win! I'll prove that _I'm_ the _best_!!"

I smirked at his enthusiasm. This idiot wasn't even worth the time of another 'Katon Gōkakyū no Jutsu'. I only used it on him since we were paired up in an 'anything goes' ninjitsu fight that only happened once per quarter. Needless to say, I passed with flying colors and Naruto failed miserably.

"The best at _failing_." I muttered in my superiority. This caused much laughter from my classmates as well as a very angry Naruto.

"Grr! Sasuke!!" But soon Naruto was drowned out by some more boys running over to me. Naruto ranted at me in the background while I completely ignored him. He wasn't worth my time watching. The boys were Neji and Shikamaru. It was strange that these two were friends, but they at least agreed on some levels.

"Ah! Sasuke!" Neji said. "Hey, you still up for the **game** after school?" Ah yes, the **game**. All the boys in our class had decided a couple days ago that they wanted to practice together. So, they were organizing meeting after school and trying to learn some skills from each other. I thought this was all together pointless since I liked to work alone but I had, at one time, decided to humor them by saying I would join. I kind of regretted that now.

But I guess one day of 'training' with them couldn't hurt my skills. One day. Never again though. "Hn, sure." I looked to Shikamaru. "Where are we meeting?"

"At the edge of the forest, when we all get there we can begin." He looked over at the still ranting Naruto. "Hear that? Don't be late this time Naruto. Be there right after school, and no stopping at that stupid Ramen shop. Ug… it's troublesome when we have to wait for you." I had begun to notice that a lot of things were 'annoying' or 'troublesome' to Shikamaru. It was the same for me most of the times too.

"Yeah, loser. Don't be late or you'll get left behind," I stated matter-of-factly. This produced more rants from Naruto about how he be faster than life itself, yada, yada. This new situation brought out a strange reaction from the people who were following me around earlier.

"Ah! Sasuke-kun! Will you be doing some hardcore training?!"

"I want to see!!"

"Can we go too Sasuke-kun?"

Neji looked annoyed along with Shikamaru at the girl's reactions. Neji decided to set them in their place. "Hey, we're going to be training. Not fooling around like a bunch of kids."

The girls started getting mad at Neji. I was really getting sick of all this noise. Too many people at once kind of made my head spin. "Would you all just stop fighting!?" I sort of yelled out. This quieted the girls a bit as they looked at me. "I don't care if you come, just don't get in our way. If you do, you'll get hurt."

With that last statement, I walked away. Instead of shutting up the girls though, it made them let out high-pitched squeels behind me. I'm pretty sure I heard a 'Sasuke is so cool' in there to. Typically weird girls. I never could understand them.

I sat in class later than day staring at a part of the wall. The teacher was rambling again about something that had nothing to do with being a ninja. Although I was ignoring them, I was a little curious to see what my other classmates were doing during this lechure. My eyes roamed down to see the people in front of me.

Naruto sat like an idiot blancing a pencil on his nose. Tipically failing at it too. My eyes scanned a little to the other side of the room. About ten girls turned away from my gaze. Obviously, they all had been watching me. Also tipical. Only one girl dared to look back at me.

She was small with green eyes, her pink hair tied back with a bow. Long ago, I never noticed her at all. I knew her as 'forehead' girl, or something like that, but never really cared. Recently, the kids had stopped teasing her as much and she'd been getting more and more bolder. Soon she'd be just as bold as the rest of those girls. Her stare now sort of proved that much.

How annoying.

My expression remained the same against her wondrous gaze. Eventually, she turned a bit red before looking away. Her face was starting to match her hair. Just another annoying girl. I couldn't understand why they just flocked to me, but it didn't matter anyway. Stupid girls would remain stupid.

I turned back to look at my wall and thought about my brother. He had been acting so strange lately. I would have probably asked him to train with me today instead of my classmates but his behavior was so erratic lately I couldn't even talk to him. Oh well. I was sure things would get better soon…

* * *

I leaned against a tree watching the others in their training sessions. It wasn't my turn to spar yet, but I was looking forward to it. Right now, Shikamaru and Neji had teamed up on Naruto who was through getting beaten to a pulp. I didn't feel like jumping into rescue him, but I _was_ bored and just might do it.

Maybe.

"Oh! Sakura-chan!"

"Hai?"

"Can you pass me the chips?"

"Hai." The pink haired girl from his class handed the chips over to a girl with buns in her hair. I didn't remember her name... something about pandas?

"Arigatou!"

Oh boy. I could see those girls in the corner of my eyes. The girls had followed us after all. Perfect. They sat on their own little picnic blanket in a little girlish tea party thing.

How _annoying_. I was trying to ignore them but it's hard to when they were sort of taking up space in our training area by watching us, eating sandwiches, and _talking_.

It wasn't like guy talk either, that was pointless and blunt. Girls talked all squealing with each other. They talked so fast it was hard to keep up with their conversation. Not like I cared though.

I heard a thud to the side of me and noticed that Naruto had been thoroughly pummeled into the tree. I sighed. Now I would have to spar in his place. "Baka, why don' you go play tea party with the girls? That's better suited for you."

The other boys laughed at my retort as I moved forward from my tree about to spar. Naruto got mad again and started rambling. The girls were turning on him now. He probably insulted me. Again, it wasn't like I cared what he said.

"Say, Sasuke." This was Neji. Apparently, Shikamaru didn't want to spar anymore. "Let's have a one-on-one battle. Right here. Right now."

I smirked. "Fine by me." I bent my knees and faced the white-eyed boy. Neji was a worthy opponent compared to the rest of them. At least this spar would be interesting. I felt like making it more interesting though. "Let's go all out. Kunai are acceptable, along with ninjutsu."

"Fine by me." Neji retorted. We stared at each other a while as the wind blew some of my hair in my eyes. Something about this guy could bug me sometimes. Maybe it's just because his strength made him a possible rival… Possible. Not really.

I was still number one.

* * *

"Oh! It looks like Sasuke-kun's going up against Neji!" Ino screamed in delight. Tenten looked up from eating chips with interest. I turned around to see the stare off, winding blowing my pink hair past my face. I was a little scared by the look in their eyes. It was very intense. I hugged Bun-Bun tighter to her.

"This might get ugly…" I muttered more to myself and Bun-Bun then the group. Suddenly, the group all turned to me noticing something. I looked at them surprise on my face. "What?"

"Sakura-chan… what's that?" Tenten pointed to my Bun-Bun, the stuffed rabbit I was holding. I looked at it and smiled a bit.

"Oh, this? This is Bun-bun. I carry him with me sometimes. I've had him since I was a baby…" My voice grew quiet a bit. "I brought him for our picnic…. Since Hinata said she was bringing Mr. Snuggles…" Hinata had a stuffed bear she brought with her sometimes. Only, as it turns out, Mr. Snuggles lost his head this morning when a dog attacked him. That was the end of poor Mr. Snuggles. I had been comforting her about it since this morning.

Hinata blushed a bit at the mention of her poor decapitated bear, still feeling sad for the loss. Tenten grew a little concerned though. "Sakura-chan…" Her voice said seriously. "…don't let the boys see that. I mean, we can handle stuffed animals fine but if they knew… they might make fun of you." She smiled a bit. "So just hide him if any of them come near." Tenten was so nice to me, unlike Ino. But then again, Ino was my rival so thay meant we were supposed to be mean to each other.

Ino laughed that annoying 'superiority laugh' of hers. "Ha! Yeah, forehead. Playing with stuffed animals is so age six!" Technically, they were all around seven or eight so I was a little above the age to have a stuffed animal. Both Hinata and I blushed with embarrassment. We both still played stuffed animals sometimes.

I had to be strong though. I held my head high and hugged Bun-Bun for encouragement. "I don't care. I love Bun-Bun anyway. So…" A little angry I pouted. Turning my head deliberately I stated, "Let's just watch Sasuke-kun fight!"

Something was impeding my view of Sasuke, a yellow-haired boy with a bright orange suit…. "Eh… Naruto?" He stood there in front of me smiling stupidly.

"Hey Sakura-chan! Did you watch my fight from before? I was good wasn't I?" Hinata-chan started blushing. She was right beside me so Naruto-kun was very close to her. Poor Hinata-chan had the most obvious crush on the most oblivious boy in the entire village. Not to mention one of the stupidest.

"Naruto-kun! Get out of the way, we're trying to watch-" Ino's voice came out loud and annoying and she was cut off by Naruto even more annoying voice.

"Hey! Sakura-chan? What's this?" Naruto stood holding out my Bun-Bun. I looked down and noticed he'd taken it from me in the blink of an eye. I panicked.

"Naruto!!! Give that back to me!" I stood up, very angry now. I was a meek girl, but if Bun-Bun was in danger, I'd have to do something about it.

Naruto looked a little shocked and tossed Bun-Bun up and down. "Oh, this is yours Sakura-chan? You still have stuffed animals?" I blushed a bit. Should I deny the obvious? He smiled when his _brilliant_ mind got an idea. "Hey! Hold on! Let's do something cool with it!" With that he ran off with my Bun-Bun.

Needless to say, I was kind of upset. "Naruto!!" I felt like crying. What was he going to do to Bun-Bun? Hinata stood up with me, also concerned for my Bun-Bun.

Naruto ran over to Shikamaru, who had started cloud gazing. He held out the stuffed bunny, which Shikamaru looked at with indifference. Then he started giving out a light chuckle. Soon, more boys were surrounding them, overpowering whatever Naruto was trying to tell them. Soon, Bun-Bun was lost in a sea of a bunch of boys.

Tenten stood up now. This wasn't going to be good. The boys could totally tear that stuffed animal apart, and then Sakura would be devastated. Sasuke aside, they had to get Bun-Bun back.

The boys started fighting over Bun-Bun and over what they were going to do to the poor stuffed animal. They were pulling at it; slightly tearing it's seams. I screamed out at them, holding back my tears.

Tenten ran to try and stop them but was only pushed away by a mean boy. What happened next went so fast, but to me, it was in slow motion.

Someone threw Bun-Bun up in the air. The boys reached out trying to catch the stuffed animal. The bunny went flying while I watched it.

Soon it was engulfed in flames.

* * *

Neji and I stood stoic for a moment more. Then I decided to take the first punch. I pulled out a kunai and charged forward at the other boy. He easily dodged my kick and countered my kunai with his own.

I had speed, but Neji had his families' eyes. This would be a difficult match.

I jumped back and he charged forward at me. He slashed while I jumped up over him, aiming for his back. He moved forward, barely avoiding my slash. I caught myself with one hand and pushed to get enough momentum to flip myself to my feet.

I ran one way, letting Neji anticipate a strike to the left, but instead, aimed a punch with my right fist. He saw that too. I started firing off rapid punches at the boy, all of which he dodged.

I jumped back. This wasn't working. I huffed a bit from the overuse of my energy, but quickly recovered. Neji smiled smugly at me. I wasn't about to let him beat me. Not by a long shot.

I moved, disappearing and appearing behind him. He still saw me and dodged. Everything I threw at him, he could dodge. Slowly he was wearing me out. I needed to attack him in a way so he couldn't dodge. But how?

I knew how. I waited until he was on the attack. I defended his kicks easily and narrowly avoided his properly forceful fingers that were trying to get at my chakara points. Once he was in close range, I decided it was time to reveal my newest move.

The hand signs came out fast. "Katon Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Neji was caught off guard as he was takin over by flames that he couldn't dodge.

But that wasn't the only thing his flames consumed. As soon as the flames cleared revealing a defeated burned Neji, there was also another piece of ash that was virtually unrecognizable. I wouldn't have even noticed if it their hadn't been a high-pitched scream which followed its distruction.

The pink-haired girl ran out on to the blacken ground trying to catch something falling that was now completely blackened. It landed in her arms, probably burning her hands as it crumbled out of them into ash. Why did she-?

Huh? She was crying. Tears were streaming down her face. What had happened? What had I… done? "Bun-Bun…" What? "… you killed Bun-Bun…" Her hands grasped at the ash on her fingers. There was steam there. Didn't that hurt her?

_Fire is the only one that only brings distruction._

Some of the other girls ran over to the crying pink-haired one. They were calling out her name. Sakura. I remembered her now. But still… what had I burned? What's a… 'Bun-Bun'?

Naruto came out from the side too. "Ah, gomen nasai, Sakura-chan. I'll get you a new bunny…" He tried to put a hand on her shoulder but she pulled away, still crying hysterically.

So, it was a stuffed animal then? All this drama for a toy? But still… as I watched her cry… I felt sort of responsible for those tears. But it was probably her fault too. Who throws a bunny into the middle of the battle? I turned around to walk away when I heard something that surprised me.

"You're so mean Sasuke-kun!" I turned my head and looked at the girl, still crying. Something about her finally struck me. She looked strait at me, no longer meek or shy but angered. She seemed strong in the mist of her tears. How strange…

What was this feeling? Her pain… it was… so… "I never want to see you again!" She screamed at me, turning on her heal and running away. A few of her friends ran after her, concerned. I turned away from them.

"_I don't care if you come, just don't get in our way. If you do, you'll get hurt."_

Sakura…

"I think I'm done with this **game** for today." I muttered, before leaving the training grounds. I got home and went straight to my room. I didn't want speak with anyone. Not mother, nor father, nor brother… Just… Sakura…

"_You're so mean Sasuke-kun!"_

I was trying to sleep. It wasn't going very well.

"_I never want to see you again!"_

Not like I care. She was the one who threw her stuffed bunny there, right? Wasn't she a little old for stuffed animals? Wait… why did Naruto apologize? Did he have something to do with this?! He threw the bunny into my fire! Was he insane? Curse him. He hurt her. He made her cry. Why would he…

No. He didn't do it. If he did, he wouldn't have looked so sincerely upset at hurt her. I'm sure he had something to do with it. But… it _was_ an accident. No one was to blame. There. Problem solved. I turned over and closed my eyes trying to sleep. Still I could not. I flipped over trying to get more comfortable. It still nagged at me.

I had hurt her. My flame… it had made her… cry. She looked so sad. So, defeated. But, then she looked so strong with those tears. It was like she was going to avenge her Bun-Bun.

An avenger… the strength… the will… All of these held within her. But her eyes were weak too. They revealed the pain… the loss… and… something I couldn't recognize. What was that in her eyes? Something in my mind told me I was supposed to know it. I could feel it too.

It was warm. Light and soft, yet strong and determined at the same time… The feeling brushed against my face like raining Sakura petals on a summer's day.

Tears… I didn't want to hurt her. I never meant to. I wouldn't have done it if I knew she would… would…

"…cry." I was staring up at the ceiling as I muttered this word. I sat up. I couldn't take it. I had to set things right.

I looked out my window. It was still light. I had to do this now… because… by tomorrow… it could be too late. I got up and ran out my door, passing my brother in the hallway. He gave a passing glance to me but then turned around. He didn't smile.

I didn't care. Itachi didn't know what was happening, so he could go on thinking whatever he wanted to about me. I was going to see things right.

I stood outside the store with remorse. I had thought this all through until this moment. I had money but… a boy setting foot into a stuffed animals store… that would be deadly for my reputation. I needed a disguise…

"_I never want to see you again!"_

ARG! I had no time for disguises!! _No one will dare mess with me. _I walked in the store calmly, keeping my cool in the mist of this battleground. I walked to the edge of the store with the latest stuffed toys. I had no real preference for what to buy but I kept wondering what Sakura would-

I froze. There was a presence behind me. A tall man with a big round belly came up behind me chuckling to himself. He was the storeowner. "Well, well, well. Young man, would you like you buy something for you girlfriend?"

I looked at him with a glare. Inside I was completely horrified by his guess but I was going to remain calm. An Uchiha knows when to not show emotion. If glares could kill, this storeowner would be dead right now.

The man just smiled and chuckled to himself. "Oh, I see. So this is for your girlfriend. Well, now, I recommend this nice brown teddy. It's the simple original stuffed animals girls like the best. Unless you feel like carrying around a frilly dolled-up one-" Again I gave him the look of death. He laughed more as he grabbed the brown teddy. "I'll just ring this up for you."

I bought the teddy and got the heck out of there. But, as I ducked in an ally trying to figure out what to do next I realized the flaw in my plan. I didn't know where Sakura lived. I cursed silently to myself. How was I supposed to do this? I can't just go around knocking on doors asking for Sakura…

"_You're so mean Sasuke-kun!"_

Ug… this is hopeless. I slid down against the fence in the alleyway, letting the shadows cast over me. I looked at the teddy trying to think of what to do. Like it would know…

A light breeze ran through me hair, feeling nice upon my neck. Something fell down from the tree above me in the wind and landed on the ground before me.

A Sakura petal. "Sakura…" I found myself mutter lightly. I picked up the petal and held it in the palm of my hand. The wind blew and the petal flew with it. "…forgive me…"

It was hopeless. Why had I tried to bring back her happiness? Why hadn't I just said 'Sorry' when I was right next to her? Oh well, it shouldn't matter, right? She was just one girl. Just another stupid little girl… with light green eyes and short pink-hair… also obsessed with me… Why did I care so much?

Tears… her tears… I made her cry. I hurt her. I really had directly hurt someone. My inner fire, my cold outer shell, and she… she wouldn't ever smile again. Those tears… her strength… that beauty…

"Forgive me." It did matter to me. Her existence did matter to me. No matter what others might think, or what I put up in front of me… she did matter. I didn't know why, but she did. And I couldn't… just let her… die.

My fist clenched. _But what-_

"Sakura-chan!"

"Oh… Hi Naruto-kun."

That sound. I turned and looked, still hidden in the shadows at the people passing by. In the distance stood the yellow-haired boy and the green-eyed girl. She wasn't smiling. Naruto was trying to cheer her up though.

"Ah, Sakura-chan, wanna go get some ramen with me? I'm sure you'll feel better."

"No. I'm trying to get home now. I was at Hinata's all day and I'm kind of tired. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Oh, alright Sakura-chan. Want me to walk you?"

"No. I'm good. Ja ne, Naruto-kun." She walked away leaving a concerned Naruto behind.

I praised my luck. More Sakura blossoms fell down on me. It gave me an idea. Quickly, I grabbed a small branch from the tree before jumping up to the rooftops to follow Sakura home the ninja-way.

When she finally started to slow down and go to one house, I hid in a tree right across from it. I watched her enter the home and close the door neatly behind her. Never along the entire walk did she smile. Her expression had remained completely dead.

As I sat on the tree branch, I knew I could easily give it to her right now. It would be simple… but… I couldn't seem to muster enough courage. How could I go through all I went trough this night to get to this point and have cold feet?! Now I was truly being the baka…

I remembered her expression… her tears… her words… all of her. Then I remembered the girl from class, the bolder Sakura with innocent green eyes... I couldn't let that cute innocence die. No. I looked down at the bear and then up at the door and nodded to myself. In flash, I was in front of the door.

I set the bear down and placed the Sakura branch next to it. I knocked roughly on the door. At the last second, I disappeared and reappeared in the tree again. I watched the door with interest.

It opened, revealing Sakura. She looked around confused and spied the bear. She picked it up along with the branch. "Hello? Is anyone there?" She looked around trying to see anyone. I wondered if I should come out, reveal myself. But…

I couldn't.

I stayed silent watching her. She looked at the bear, then to the Sakura branch and back to the bear again. The she spied something I didn't even know was there. A black hair had attacked to the bear… jet-black hair… _my_ hair.

I froze. She'd know. She'd have to know. It scared me. I was afraid how she would react. Instead, she looked at all the things she'd been given and…

She knew. She raised the piece of hair up, the wind blew taking the hair and casting it into the night. "Arigatou…" She muttered to the wind. I caught her words. She hugged on to the bear and held the branch tightly with her fingers before she walked back inside. Before she left, I caught a glimpse of her true, innocent smile.

To my surprise, I smiled too. I came just in time. That was all I had wanted. That moment I thought, over these next few years, I hoped to bring her more and more smiles. If that was all I could do, I vowed…

_I'll never let you cry again._

* * *

Time passed. A family was killed. All that was built that day... died within the instant. It was replaced by one word.

Revenge.

His heart hardened. The promise was forgotten. More tears were shed. Denial, lies, betrayal, rejection, loss and pain... All was gained with this word.

If only he'd remembered that day, that promise, perhaps she would be smiling now. Perhaps they could have held on to what they both needed.

Love.

But beyond all that, she still held hope. On the toughest days, when he is out their building up his strength, she cries into her teddy bear who she had properly name on that day…

"**Hope**".

The End.

* * *

Author's Note:

I hoped you liked it! Please Review, I really want to know what you think of this. I tried very hard for this!! And, I _think_ it ended up good, but I want your opinions!

See you all in my next fic! Thank you for reading!


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